CBB Top Pitchers to Watch in 2008

We are starting up with our previews of the 2008 season. We have broken down the top five pitchers in the country. Stay tuned for more previews of the upcoming season as the season gets closer.

Aaron Crow, Jr. Missouri



Crow was named the top pitching prospect in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League this summer. Crow has a mid-90's fastball with a plus slider and a solid cutter. Crow went 9-4 with a 3.59 last season but got bombed in the NCAA Tournament by Louisville as he let up seven runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Jacob Thompson, Jr. Virginia

Thompson had a breakout season in 2007 where he led the Virginia Cavaliers to the NCAA Tournament. He had a perfect 11-0 record with a 1.50 ERA. Thompson has a low 90's fastball with downward action on it with a solid curveball. Thompson pitched over the summer for the USA National Team where he got a chance to pitch in the Pan Am Games. He went 1-2 with a 1.27 ERA in 21.1 innings. He was shutdown after the Pan-Am Games to rest his arm for the 2008 season.

Brian Matusz, Jr. San Diego

Matusz is a 6'4 left handed power pitcher for the University of San Diego baseball program. In 2007, He led the Toreros to the number 1 seed in the San Diego regional with a 10-3 record with a 2.85 ERA. He also struck out 163 strikeouts in 123 innings. He pitched for the USA National Team this summer where he compiled a 3-1 record with a 1.33 ERA in four starts. He was also shut down for the summer after the Pan-Am Games to rest his arm.

Kyle Gibson, So. Missouri



Gibson is a 6'5 right handed sinker ball pitcher who was named the number 3 overall prospect in the Cape Cod League by Baseball America and number 9 by Perfect Game. He lead the Missouri Tigers with help from Aaron Crow to the NCAA Tournament as he had a 8-3 record with a 4.12 ERA as he served as the closer with seven saves. He is expected to make the move to the rotation in 2008 and give the Tigers two legitimate aces on the staff.

Ryan Perry, Jr. Arizona



Perry dazzled scouts in the Cape Cod League with a mid-90's fastball which hit 97 on some guns over the summer. He struggled in 2007 with the Arizona Wildcats as he went 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA. Perry was recovering from a January 2007 accident when he crashed his motorcycle going over 80 MPH without a helmet on which he walked away with a broken non-throwing arm. Perry pitched in 18 games coming out of the bullpen while picking up four saves. His record for the CCBL season was only 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA. He is expected to become an impact player in the Pac-10 for the 2008 season.

The College Baseball Blog would like to thank Cape Prospects for providing the videos for some of the pitchers.

Checking in with Jacob Thompson

Eric Strow, a senior writer of The Cavalier Daily, recently checked in with Jacob Thompson. He spent the summer of 2007 pitching for Team USA in the Pan-American games and several international exhibitions. He was shut down before the end of the summer to save his arm for the 2008 season. The full article from The Cavalier Daily is available here. The College Baseball Blog had a chance to see Thompson in 2007 when his Cavaliers visited Boston College. The full report is available here.

FSU releases 2008 Schedule

The Florida State Seminoles have released their 2008 schedule. They will play a 56 game schedule in 2008 which opens up on February 22nd when Duquesne University visits for a four game series over three days. They will follow that up with an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Phillies. They will then travel to Auburn to take on the Tigers for two games before coming back to Tallahassee to host the Tigers for two games. The Seminoles will open ACC play on March 7th when Maryland visits Tallahassee. The Seminoles will also host ACC series against Georgia Tech, Virginia, Miami, and NC State. They will head on the road this season to face Virginia Tech, Boston College, Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Clemson. They will not play Duke in 2008 or 2009 due to the rotating ACC schedule. The 2008 ACC Baseball Championship will take place in Jacksonville Florida again. The full schedule is available in HTML and PDF formats.

Cavs hammer Blue Jays 9-1

The Virginia Cavaliers played the Ontario Blue Jays in an exhibition game on Friday which the Cavaliers won 9-1 in a sixteen inning contest. The Cavaliers got a home run from Jeremy Farrell and solid pitching. The pitching staff only gave up three hits in the game with Jacob Thompson not pitching any innings. The Cavaliers are expected to be at the top of the ACC conference again with a strong lineup but need to find a replacement on the mound and in the field for Sean Doolittle who left for professional baseball after being drafted in June.

Game Story
Box Score

Cornell releases 2008 schedule

The Cornell baseball program has announced their 2008 schedule which is highlighted by a season opening tournament where they will play face Siena and the host Virginia in four games. They will also take part in the Villanova Classic where they will play Temple, LaSalle, and the host Wildcats. The Big Red will make their annual trip to Florida but they have not announced opponents for the entire week. The team will open at home against Ivy League power Harvard on March 29th. The full schedule is available here.

Doyle leads YD to Game 1 victory over Falmouth

FROM CCBL RELEASE
SOUTH YARMOUTH, Mass.- The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox were in control of game one of the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series from the first batter all the way to the end. After both teams swept their divisional series, the Red Sox kept their momentum going while taking the wind out of Falmouth’s sails winning 8-2.

Game two of the Championship series will be played at Guv. Fuller Field in Falmouth at 7 PM August 13 as the Red Sox will be looking to win their third title in four years. Tonight’s crowd of 4.335 is expected to matched tomorrow in what could be the last game of the 2007 season.

Falmouth starter Shooter Hunt (Tulane) was chased from the game after pitching just 2 1/3 innings giving up four runs on four hits. Hunt started the game by relinquishing a homer to the first batter he faced, Grant Green (Southern California) who also blasted a solo shot in the fifth inning off of reliever Preston Claiborne (Tulane).

The second year starter for Falmouth, who also allowed Buster Posey (Florida State) to score on a sacrifice fly by Gordon Beckham (Georgia) in the first, left the game in the third after giving up a single to Jason Castro (Stanford) and a walk to leftfielder Aaron Luna (Rice) to start the inning. Preston Claiborne, Hunt’s college teammate, came in and gave up a walk to load the bases, but the Red Sox could not cash in on the opportunity as Claiborne struck out Collin Cowgill (Kentucky) and induced a ground ball out from Joey Railley (University of San Francisco) to end the threat.

The Red Sox scored twice in the second off of Hunt thanks to an RBI double by second baseman Railley that drove in Cowgill and a ground ball by the tall middle infielder turned first baseman Green that plated Railley to go up 4-0. Green moved to first base for the postseason after an elbow injury to Sean Ochinko (LSU) in the last game of the regular season left a hole in the lineup for Y-D.

For Yarmouth-Dennis Terry Doyle (Boston College), the 2006 Co-Outstanding Pitcher of the Year, collected the win giving up just two runs on four hits. He struck out seven Commodores, walking three and racking up four wild pitches in his last Cape League start in 6 1/3 innings of work.

Two of those wild pitches led to a Falmouth run as second baseman David Adams (Virginia) took both third and home on pitches that hit the dirt in front of the plate and got by Buster Posey (Florida State). The 6 foot 2 inch 205 pound power hitter, who led the Commodores with 51 hits on the season, reached second base on a double that just missed leaving the park bouncing off the left field fence in front of the score board at Red Wilson Field.

Adam’s scored the second Falmouth run in the sixth inning after reaching on a single, stealing second base, advancing to third on another Doyle wild pitch and coming home on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Phil Carey (Winthrop).

The Red Sox collected three insurance runs in the eighth of off reliever Erik Bird (Nebraska). Green collected his fourth RBI of the night, and Posey and right fielder Matt Long (Santa Clara) each drove in one run putting the final tally at eight for the Red Sox.

DJ Mauldin (Cal Poly State) shut down the Falmouth Commodores to close out the game, pitching 2 2/3 shutout innings to keep Doyle’s seventh win of the season in tact.
For Doyle, there couldn’t be a better way to finish his Cape League career than with back-to-back championships.

“It would be great (to win again), last year was a lot of fun but to be able to go back to back, which nobody’s done in a while, would be great. I mean, everybody likes winning,” said Doyle.

Photo is courtesy of Codball

CCBL Series Preview: Falmouth vs Bourne

The Bourne Braves and Falmouth Commodores are set to do battle in the Western Division playoffs in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

The Falmouth Commodores head over to Bourne to take on the Braves. Falmouth is led by Conor Gillaspie (Wichita State) who led the league in hitting at a .345 clip. He also has seven homers with 22 RBI on the year. David Adams (UVA) hit a solid .302 while Matthew Hague (Clemson) hit .299. Falmouth has the best two pitchers in the league based on ERA with Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson who both play with the Missouri Tigers. Crow has a 0.67 ERA in 40 innings and a 3-1 record. (Video of Crow is available here) Gibson has a 2-0 record with a 1.17 ERA.

The Bourne Braves have fought through the 2007 season by overcoming losses of players during the season and before the season for various reasons to have the second best record in the league after Yarmouth-Dennis. Bourne is led by Kevin Hoef (Iowa) at the plate with his .317 average. T.J. Hose (East Carolina) is the top pitcher on the team with a 4-3 record with a 2.58 ERA.

Friday: Falmouth at Bourne 3 pm
Saturday: Bourne at Falmouth 8 pm
Sunday (if necessary): Falmouth at Bourne 3 pm

The College Baseball Blog predicts that Falmouth wins the series in three games in a mild upset.

The entire playoffs will be webcasted for free through Leaguestream. The games can be accessed by clicking here.

Team USA adds four players

Team USA announced today that UC-Irvine pitcher Scott Gorgen, NC State pitcher Eric Surkamp, UNC-Wilmington pitcher Seth Frankoff, and Tyler Stovall from Hokes Bluff (HS) have joined the team starting on Friday when the team completes their series against China. They replace Brian Matusz, Jacob Thompson, and Lance Lynn who have all left the team to rest their arms until the next college season.

UC-Irvine Release
NC State Release
UNC-Wilmington Release

China drops Team USA 2-1

PRESS RELEASE
BIRMINGHAM, AL— China’s Kun Chen, Youhua Guo and Quansheng Zhao out dueled Team USA’s Lance Lynn (2-1) and Jordy Mercer as the Chinese (1-2) won the third game of the five-game series over the Americans (17-7), 2-1, on Wednesday evening. Team USA had won the first two games of the series.

Chen went the first six and two-thirds, giving up one run on seven hits, before yielding to Guo. Guo went an inning and one-third before yielding to Zhao in the ninth, who posted the save, despite putting the tying run on second base.

Brett Wallace (Arizona State) and Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) each had three of the Americans nine hits, who rested starting outfielders Jordan Danks (Texas) and Logan Forsythe (Arkansas) to begin the night.

Espinosa’s bunt base hit in the ninth sent the winning run to the plate against Zhao with one out. Espinosa was then balked to second. Zhao though got a flyout and strikeout to end the game.

An RBI single followed by a groundout gave China a 2-1 lead in the second, the second time in two nights the Chinese led early.

Lynn went the first four innings, giving up two runs on two hits. Mercer went the final six innings, not allowing a hit the rest of the way. He struck out eight on the night and did not walk a batter.

Wallace gave the Americans a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single.

TEAM NOTES
The game was delayed by over an hour due to a rain storm which started around 90 minutes prior to first pitch... Manager Mike Weathers played in the Oakland A’s minor league system in Birmingham, AL in the mid-1970’s for three years... RHPs Jacob Thompson (Virginia) and Brian Matusz (San Diego), neither of which are injured, left the team for precautionary reasons due to a high number of innings pitched over the previous eight months... Thompson finished the summer 1-2 with a 1.27 ERA, Matusz was 3-1 with a 1.33 ERA... junior national team invitee, Tyler Stovall, a lefthander/outfielder from Hokes Bluff (AL) High School joined the team on Wednesday and will be with the team through the end of the week... Team USA is now 2-2 against Communist-led governments over the last four games (China and Cuba).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The five-game series with China continues in Rome, GA on Thursday and Ft. Mill, SC on Friday, finishing off the nine-game (two-day) American trip with the Netherlands and Russia in North Carolina... the team closes out their schedule at the World Port Tournament in the Netherlands starting on August 2.

Cape Cod Baseball League Awards for Week 6

The Cape Cod Baseball League has released their weekly Player of the Week awards for the week ending on July 20th. Chatham starting pitcher Tom Milone (USC) picked up the Coca-Cola Pitcher of the Week award after pitching 15 innings over two games while only giving up two hits and one earned run. The Coca-Cola Player of the Week was Falmouth's David Adams (UVA) who hit .524 with six RBI last week. The Cape Cod League All-Star game will take place on Saturday and I hope everyone in the New England area make the trip down to Wareham to see some great baseball.

Cape Cod Baseball League Week 6 Report

Japan silences Team USA 2-1

The Japanese team picked up a tight 2-1 victory in a classic pitching duel between Yuki Saito and Jacob Thompson. Saito is credited as the next big Japanese pitcher following in the likes of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideo Nomo. Saito pitched six strong innings while giving up one run on three hits. Jacob Thompson (UVA) was just as good as he gave up both runs which were unearned on three hits. The Japanese team scored in a two run second inning by using small ball by getting a walk, a fielder's choice, two bunts, and a big error by Jacob Thompson to plate the runs. Team USA scored a run in the bottom of the second inning on a lead off double by Brett Wallace (Arizona State) who came around on consecutive groundouts. Neither team would score the rest of the game giving the Japanese team a 2-1 lead in the series. The teams will be back in action on Saturday at 7 pm in Durham NC. The game will be webcasted for free and can be found by clicking here.

Team USA Recap

The picture above was taken from No Sword which is a Japanese blog.

2008 MLB Prospects

We can now look ahead to the 2008 MLB Draft prospects as Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) and Justin Smoak (South Carolina) lead the draft eligible players. They will also be joined by pitchers Jacob Thompson (UVA) and Brian Matusz (USD). All four of these players are on Team USA this summer as the team will take part in the Pan-American games and the World Port Tournament in the Netherlands. Ike Davis (Arizona State) and Jordan Danks (Texas) also get some talk about being in the top of the 2008 draft. We have found two sites that are already giving their predictions on the upcoming draft which can be read about by clicking the links below.

MLB.com
Project Prospect

Team USA takes Game 2 from Chinese Taipei

FROM USA BASEBALL RELEASE

BURLINGTON, NC— Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) hit his second home run of the series, the go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth, to lead Team USA (7-1) to a 6-4 victory over Chinese Taipei (1-2) in the second game of the five-game series. Kieschnick finished with three RBIs, all coming in the last two innings.

Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt) had two RBI singles, while Jordan Danks (Texas) reached base safely three times, scoring three times on two walks and a single.

Chinese Taipei scored four runs in the eighth to tie the game at 4-4, after the Americans took a 4-0 lead in the top of the inning with three runs.

Closer Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) gave up a two-run, two-out double by Chuan Lin Yi to tie the game at 4-4. Back-to-back RBI doubles off of Josh Romanski (San Diego) cut the lead to 4-2. Satterwhite (1-0) ended up with the win, rebounding with a scoreless ninth.

Team USA finally solved reliever Wen Cheng Kai with three runs in the eighth to lead 4-0. Kai had retired the first six batters he faced, before giving up a leadoff walk to Jordan Danks (Texas). Danks came around to score for the second time in the game on a Kieschnick RBI single, before Flaherty followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0. A sacrifice fly by Justin Smoak (South Carolina) made it 4-0.

Jen Lo Chia pitched five strong innings for Chinese Taipei, allowing just one hit, but trailing 1-0. He walked three and struck out another three on 72 pitches. Jacob Thompson (Virginia) countered with six scoreless innings of two-hit ball. He struck out two and walked two, using just 79 pitches.

Flaherty drove in Danks in the third to give the Americans a 1-0 lead. Catcher Mu Chen Jui had two of the first three hits for CTBA. The second hit came in the eighth. CTBA finished with six hits.

TEAM NOTES
The Americans were the designated visitor after serving as the home team on Friday... the first half of the game saw a steady downpour of rain.... Team USA had a three-hit shutout last night and had 16 scoreless innings in the series until CTBA scored in the eighth... the game times tonight, Sunday and Monday (7 p.m. /12 p.m./10 a.m.) represent close to the same times the Americans will play at the Pan American Games next month (7 p.m. /11 a.m. /9 a.m.).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Chinese Taipei series will continue in Cary, NC at the National Training Complex (July 1-2) at noon on Sunday and 10 a.m. on Monday, before finishing off in Kannapolis, NC (July 3) at 7 p.m. The 10-game North Carolina home stand continues with Japan on July 4 to begin a five-game series.

Five Cavaliers Earn VaSID Post-Season Honors

Five Cavaliers Named to 2007 VaSID All-State Baseball Team

Five Virginia baseball players have earned 2007 University Division All-State honors, as selected by the Virginia College Sports Information Directors (VaSID). Brian O'Connor was selected as Coach of the Year, Jacob Thompson (after an 11-0 season earning him a slot as a finalist for the Roger Clemens Award, with the winner to be announced July 11) was chosen as Pitcher of the Year, and shortstop Greg Miclat, OF and Chicago Cubs draftee Brandon Guyer and pitcher and Oakland Athletics first round sandwich pick LHP Sean Doolittle (pictured at left) garnering first-team all-state honors. Doolittle also earned second-team honors at 1B, and was joined on the second team by 2B David Adams.

The official press release can be found by clicking here.

2007 University Division VaSID All-State Team

First Team

1B Joe Mahoney, Richmond

2B Chris Fournier, George Mason

SS Sergio Miranda, VCU

3B Greg Sexton, William & Mary

OF Brandon Guyer, Virginia

OF Scott Krieger, George Mason

OF Kellen Kulbacki, James Madison

C Jason Bour, George Mason
DH Greg Miclat, Virginia

P Sean Doolittle, Virginia

P Anthony Shawler, Old Dominion

P Jacob Thompson, Virginia

Coach of the Year: Brian O'Connor, Virginia

Player of the Year: Kellen Kulbacki, James Madison

Pitcher of the Year: Jacob Thompson, Virginia

Rookie of the Year: Jason Bour, George Mason

Second Team

1B Sean Doolittle, Virginia

2B David Adams, Virginia

SS Davis Stoneburner, JMU

3B Alex Gregory, Radford

OF Robbie Bailey, Longwood

OF Garrett Young, Liberty

OF Mike Zahm, Old Dominion

C Tim Park, William & Mary

DH Tyler Childeress, Longwood

P Luke Foss, Norfolk State

P Dan Hudson, Old Dominion

P Luke Pisker, VCU

Team USA edges Newport

Team USA completed their tour of New England with a 5-4 victory over the Newport Gulls (NECBL). Team USA scored four runs in the first inning with the first run coming on a double by Justin Smoak (South Carolina). Brett Wallace (Arizona State) then followed up with a three run homer in his first at bat of the summer with Team USA. The coaching staff of Team USA used the game to get five pitchers work in the game. Jacob Thompson (UVA) started and gave up no runs on one hit and two walks. Mike Minor (Vanderbilt) came in for two innings while giving up two hits and striking out four batters. Eric Surkamp (NC State) then came in to pitch two innings but gave up one run on two hits. Josh Romanski (San Diego) came in relief of Surkamp and gave up three runs in his two innings of work. Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) gave up two hits but did not give up a run as he got his first save of the summer for Team USA. The team will be off until June 29th when they play Chinese Taipei in Burlington NC.

Team USA Recap
Newport Recap

Thoughts on NCAA Baseball Tourney

The game of College Baseball is starting to see a ton of parity. We have a Big East squad in Louisville making their first appearance in an NCAA Regional. They went into Missouri this weekend and defeated both Miami and Missouri twice. The Cardinals are just one of the northern teams that got through a regional as Michigan went into Vanderbilt and beat the Commodores twice. Vanderbilt was the number 1 overall seed in the tournament. The Texas Longhorns were also shocked by UC-Irvine and Arkansas went down to Oklahoma State. San Diego also went 0-2 in the Regional they hosted at San Diego State.

We also saw seven ACC teams receive bids to the NCAA Tournament but only two ended up getting into the next round of the tournament. The FSU Seminoles were a huge disappointment as they started the season with a perfect 23-0 record before losing to Jacksonville. The Seminoles were flawed as they did not have the pitching staff like the top teams in the country. They were exposed with only a two deep pitching staff in Bryan Henry and Michael Hyde. The history of the Seminoles have always been a strong hitting team but fail in the NCAA Tourney because of the lack of pitching depth. They have been to the CWS the most times without winning a title by making it 15 times to Omaha. Is it the coaching? I don't think it is Mike Martin's Sr. fault but his entire coaching staff needs to do a better job in recruiting better players. He needs to focus on getting some lights and pitchers that can dominate games like Jacob Thompson.

Tallahassee Democrat Article on Mike Martin and 2008

Virginia also bowed out of the tournament early this year but the injury bug hit the Cavaliers as they headed down the stretch. Greg Miclat had surgery on his torn labrum before the Boston College series while Brandon Guyer and Brandon Marsh each got injured in the NCAA Regional knocking them out of the NCAA Tournament. This meant the Cavaliers were missing a whole third of their lineup in which they were not able to overcome. The Cavaliers will lose All-American candidate Sean Doolittle but return Jacob Thompson who will headline the starting pitching rotation next season.

Daily Progress Article with O'Connor

I will be starting my Super Regional Previews on Wednesday and I expect to be done them by late Thursday evening so come back for some great Super Regional coverage.

Charlottesville Regional Championship

The Virginia Cavaliers and Oregon State Beavers are currently playing in the Regional Championship game in Charlottesville VA. The Cavaliers started Casey Lambert on the mound but he gave up five runs in 1.1 innings before being lifted for Jacob Thompson. He only lasted one inning while giving up 2 hits and two walks in relief. Oregon State was led by a strong game from transfer Jason Ogata who went 3-5 with four runs batted in. Oregon State now heads home to host Michigan for a Super Regional which starts on Saturday at 3 pm EST.

Oregon State Recap
Virginia Recap

Charlottesville Regional Day 4 Recap

Oregon State 5 Rutgers 2

After enduring a washout on Sunday, Oregon State headed back to the diamond as they defeated Rutgers by a 5-2 score. Oregon State received a decent start from Jorge Reyes where he gave up two runs in six innings. Daniel Turpen was able to come in and close out the game by pitching the final three innings to get his second save. The Beavers offense was led by Lonnie Lechelt who went 3-4 with a homer. Oregon State advances in the regional to the Championship game against Virginia which took place at 6 pm on Monday while Rutgers ends the season with a 42-21 record.

OSU Recap
Rutgers Recap

Oregon State 5 UVA 3

The Beavers scored four runs in the last two innings to rally past the Virginia Cavaliers 5-3 and force a winner take all game on Tuesday for a Super Regional spot. The Beavers scored two runs off of each Jake Rule and Michael Schwimer to get the win. Daniel Turpen got the start for the Beavers after pitching the final three innings in the day game. He gave them 4.1 innings while giving up all three Cavaliers runs before getting lifted. The teams will play at noon on Tuesday to decide the Regional Championship.

Oregon State Recap
UVA Recap

Charlottesville Regional (PPD)

The Charlottesville Regional was postponed from remnants of a tropical storm which is riding up the Atlantic Ocean. Rutgers and Oregon State will play an elimination game tomorrow at 1 pm and Virginia will play the winner at 6 pm in the Championship round. If UVA loses, the final game of the regional will take place on Tuesday at a TBA time.

UVA Release

UVA Injury News

According to a report in The Daily Progress on Sunday, Brandon Marsh and Brandon Guyer are questionable for the rest of the Regional weekend after leaving last night's game with separate injuries. Marsh left last night's game after getting hit by a pitch in the first inning. Guyer got injured on a successful squeeze play where he slid into home plate. The full article is available here.